2013 release. Ulan Bator's most finely crafted album yet. En France/En Trance features a fresh line-up and instrumentation, most notably the strange and haunting sounds of the vintage ondes Martenot played by Nathalie Forget. It was recorded in Paris as an intense, concentrated improvisation and quickly evolved into a nine-track album. The sheer maturity and dynamics of this album go well beyond the usual references to Swans, early Sonic Youth, Can, Faust, Bad Seeds, Pan Sonic, New York no wave, Serge Gainsbourg, etc. Collectively drawing from a large pool of cultivated musical training, they have created a passionate, urgent, and sometimes dangerous album. With tense interplay of grooves, drones, cutting electricity, and vocal vicissitudes, Ulan Bator continues to stretch and pull the boundaries of song structure. As always, it is hard to place their distinct sound in any one genre; however, this album further solidifies their place in the canon of European art rock like none other. Their highly acclaimed Young God release Ego:Echo from 2000 still maintains a cult status among music lovers. Amaury Cambuzat's solo work as well as his live collaborations with Faust and other luminaries of the European scene have kept him extremely active, and Ulan Bator has reemerged to make their best album yet. "One of the best French bands in the last 300 years!" --Michael Gira (Swans)